(no subject)
What a lovely Christmas day we had.
Roland stayed up late putting together the Ikea kitchen set for Maya, as well as her desk and chairs and easel. We all got up this morning and had breakfast, and then stationed ourselves at the ready with cameras to watch as Maya discovered everything. She’s still so young she wasn’t expecting anything, of course. When she got in the living room she immediately went to the desk and chairs and sat down. Then she noticed the kitchen. Within seconds she was taking out plates and cups and setting the table, putting pan in the sink and “turning on” the stove (it lights up rather realistically and looks hot!). Before long we had several stuffed animals at the table to enjoy her first cooking project, created with the cute little utensils and cloth fruits, vegetables, eggs, bacon and sandwich fixings. So Cute!
Gradually she got around to the other presents, all of which she loved and used immediately. The four of us roaming around with still camera and video would have been pretty funny for the neighbors to see, I imagine. But it was fun. Speaking of our neighbors, they all gave us lovely welcoming Christmas cards, which was very sweet. They also loaned us a shovel for the snow and a sled for Maya. We can’t wait to invite them over for dinner to thank them for their kindness.
We had some more big fat snowflakes today, which made it all feel very Christmas-y. I have to say though, even after all these years in Spain and now here, I feel funny focusing so much on Christmas. I grew up in Philadelphia with many Jewish friends and in a Quaker school that focused on global diversity, and I am simply more accustomed to focusing more than just one holiday. Here it’s all Christmas, all the time as far as I can see.
We planned our Christmas dinner for mid-afternoon (around 3:00) and spent most of the rest of the morning and early afternoon making the usual trimmings, while Maya cooked in her little kitchen. She loves turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes, so we all enjoyed the meal together. We then all watched Dora the Explorer, level 1 and practiced our Dutch, followed by Princess Bride. I took a nice bubble bath (something I only allow myself when I’m feeling really good about things, for whatever reason). We put Maya to bed and played Creationary, which is a version of Pictionary but with Legos, which was a lot of fun. Roland won, no surprise there, and I lost, which was a surprise because both Laurel and Barry are new to Legos so I thought I’d trounce them. But it was a blast anyway.
Roland and I have laid out a bit of business strategy to deal with some of the issues currently on our table, and I’ve made a long to-do list regarding immigration and other issues. We have limited Internet through iPhone tethering so will be able to get started on all that tomorrow. But everything looks good at the moment, thus my gratitude for a very fortunate life indeed.
Roland stayed up late putting together the Ikea kitchen set for Maya, as well as her desk and chairs and easel. We all got up this morning and had breakfast, and then stationed ourselves at the ready with cameras to watch as Maya discovered everything. She’s still so young she wasn’t expecting anything, of course. When she got in the living room she immediately went to the desk and chairs and sat down. Then she noticed the kitchen. Within seconds she was taking out plates and cups and setting the table, putting pan in the sink and “turning on” the stove (it lights up rather realistically and looks hot!). Before long we had several stuffed animals at the table to enjoy her first cooking project, created with the cute little utensils and cloth fruits, vegetables, eggs, bacon and sandwich fixings. So Cute!
Gradually she got around to the other presents, all of which she loved and used immediately. The four of us roaming around with still camera and video would have been pretty funny for the neighbors to see, I imagine. But it was fun. Speaking of our neighbors, they all gave us lovely welcoming Christmas cards, which was very sweet. They also loaned us a shovel for the snow and a sled for Maya. We can’t wait to invite them over for dinner to thank them for their kindness.
We had some more big fat snowflakes today, which made it all feel very Christmas-y. I have to say though, even after all these years in Spain and now here, I feel funny focusing so much on Christmas. I grew up in Philadelphia with many Jewish friends and in a Quaker school that focused on global diversity, and I am simply more accustomed to focusing more than just one holiday. Here it’s all Christmas, all the time as far as I can see.
We planned our Christmas dinner for mid-afternoon (around 3:00) and spent most of the rest of the morning and early afternoon making the usual trimmings, while Maya cooked in her little kitchen. She loves turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes, so we all enjoyed the meal together. We then all watched Dora the Explorer, level 1 and practiced our Dutch, followed by Princess Bride. I took a nice bubble bath (something I only allow myself when I’m feeling really good about things, for whatever reason). We put Maya to bed and played Creationary, which is a version of Pictionary but with Legos, which was a lot of fun. Roland won, no surprise there, and I lost, which was a surprise because both Laurel and Barry are new to Legos so I thought I’d trounce them. But it was a blast anyway.
Roland and I have laid out a bit of business strategy to deal with some of the issues currently on our table, and I’ve made a long to-do list regarding immigration and other issues. We have limited Internet through iPhone tethering so will be able to get started on all that tomorrow. But everything looks good at the moment, thus my gratitude for a very fortunate life indeed.